Once Upon a Labyfic
by WhiteInfinity21
Summary: My new series of drabbles. You never know what might turn up here...
1. Path

Once Upon a Labyfic...

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

Prompt: Path

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><p><em>a prominent acting career, a wild lifestyle of booze, men, scandal and drugs, she ended up just like her mother...<em>

_community college, a job teaching third graders, a quiet, peaceful life, the ache of lost dreams never really going away..._

_the daily grind slowly draining away her vitality, an unwanted pregnancy, becoming a stressed out single mother, the forbidden words always hovering at the edge of her lips..._

_she stayed, she had it all, a loving husband, wonderful children, surrounded by her friends in the kingdom she loved, too bad she doomed them all..._

the crystal ball spun once more showing her another path...

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><p>So I reached 100 drabbles on Dreams and Dreamers. I accomplished my goal. Time to start a new series...<p> 


	2. Peacock

Once Upon a Labyfic...

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Peacock<p>

A flood of panicked goblins running down the street was not that often a sight seen in the Goblin City that Sarah would ignore. A dark grey goblin with a head twice the size of its body noticed Sarah looking curiously on.

"Run Queenie Run!" it urged before scrambling off.

There were not too many things a goblin would run from (mainly the threat of a bath) but plenty they would run towards (i.e. chickens, goblin grog, loud noises, explosions, flying objects, ect).

"What's going on?" Sarah asked.

"Kingbird is coming!" another running goblin wailed, "Run Queenie!"

Sarah sighed, no matter how much she told the goblins not to call her that they continued to do so. She suspected Jareth encouraged them to call her that.

"Kingbird? Does that mean you're running from Jareth in owl form?" Sarah asked.

"Nope! Different bird!" a slower moving goblin added.

"Run Queenie!" yet another goblin urged her.

Sarah sighed again, getting goblins to explain anything in a rational way was difficult at the best of times. Trying to do so when they were in this state was going to be problematic. Time to take the straightforward approach.

Sarah bent down, randomly grabbed a goblin and brought it up to her face.

"Just what is a Kingbird?" Sarah asked.

"Kingbird is mean, nasty!" the goblin shuddered, "chases after goblins and chickens!"

"And?" Sarah prompted.

"And Kingbird likes looking at itslef in puddles," the goblin continued, "makes sound like wonky siren. Acts like it owns everything."

_A big noisy bird that terrorizes goblins and chickens, that is mean, nasty, vain and arrogant, _Sarah thought, _that sounds really familiar._

The goblin taking advantage of Sarah's inattention wiggled out of her grasp and fell to the ground with a plop.

"You really need to run Queenie!" the goblin told her as it rushed off towards the last stragglers of the previous rush of goblins.

Sarah didn't hear the goblin's warning, she was too busy trying to figure out what a Kingbird was.

A few minutes later when the peacock strutted into sight, tail feathers fully displayed, Sarah broke out into laughter.

Given the peacocks' reputation she could easily see why the goblins called it a Kingbird. It was loud, arrogant, flashy, vain and liked to terrorize other creatures. Just like a certain glittery king she knew.

Looked like she finally found a fitting nickname for her royal pest.

Apparently the peacock also had something else in common with Jareth.

The damn bird would not stop showing off and following her around!

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><p>This prompt from Netag Silverstar. Hope you enjoyed it.<p>

Got any prompts for me? Drop me a review but keep it to one or two one word prompts please.


	3. Fencing

Once Upon a Labyfic...

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Fencing<p>

Toby was bored.

His parents were at work.

Sarah was out grocery shopping.

Normally he would not be left at home without adult supervision. But life at the Williams' household was anything but normal.

And Toby was in fact not alone, his sister had left her Labyrithian friends to watch him while she went out to grab some items for dinner.

"I'm bored!" Toby complained again.

"How about a rousing game of Scrabble Master Toby?" Sir Didymus suggested.

"We played that already," Toby pointed out, "twice."

"Well then what do you want to do?" Hoggle snapped.

"I dunno," Toby shrugged.

"Then quit complaining," Hoggle grumped.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Sir Didymus ventured, "perhaps a tale of one of my past quests?"

Toby looked up at the knight.

"A tale of glory, knightly deeds, dashing heroes, villainous scoundrels and lovely maidens?" Sir Didymus asked warming up to the subject.

Hoggle silently groaned, once Sir Didymus got started he could go on for hours. It was hard to make him stop.

_Quests... Knights... Swords..._The wheels started turning in Toby's head.

"Can you teach me how to fight with a sword?" Toby asked.

"Master Toby, you have an interest in swordmanship?" Sir Didymus inquired, "fencing is quite an admirable skill to add to your repertoire."

Toby eagerly nodded.

Hoggle hurriedly began backing away.

Sir Didymus brandished his staff, "then let me show you how its done!"

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><p>Crash. Bang.<p>

"Awesome!"

BOOM

Sarah dropped her groceries and rushed into the house.

Furniture was overturned, scorch marks were on the walls and ceiling, and shredded paper was everywhere. And right in the middle of the chaos Sir Didymus and Toby were fighting with a pair of sticks.

Sarah's bellow would have done Karen proud, "what is going on here?!"

The action in the front room paused.

"I was teaching young Master Toby the fine art of fencing my lady," Sir Didymus explained.

"Yeah, this is soo cool!," Toby exclaimed, "look at what I can do!"

A nearby goblin threw a piece of paper up in the air.

Toby slashed up and ripped the paper into two pieces mid-air.

Sarah was duly impressed but that didn't stop her from ordering, "that's great, but now you all have to clean up this mess before Dad and Karen get home."

A disappointed "aww..." came from the crowd in the front room.

"Right now!" Sarah told them, "or no cookies and stories later."

Everyone sprang into motion at the threat.

Sarah let out a sigh, she should have known better.

Needless to say, she never let Sir Didymus babysit Toby again.

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><p>Well, my first reader prompt for Once Upon a Labyfic... (OUAL). Hope you enjoyed DynamiteInHerHair .<p>

Got a prompt for me? Drop me a review, but please limit it to one word.

Remember, reviews feed the plot bunnies and happy plot bunnies reproduce.


	4. Reality

Once Upon a Labyfic...

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Reality<p>

"Goblin King, Goblin King wherever you may be come and take this child far from me!"

There was no crash of thunder, no burst of wind. Nothing happened.

Sarah let out a huff, what exactly had she been expecting? Magic and Goblin Kings weren't real.

Toby was still crying.

Disgusted Sarah slammed the door and retreated to her room. Rain pattered against the window.

She reached for her book and paused for a second before skimming past it, reaching for another well loved book, Catcher in the Rye. She flopped down on her bed and cracked open the novel, ignoring the lingering sense of disappointment.

"It's not fair," she mumbled not even really knowing why she spoke the words.

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><p>A short, poignant one. Hope you all enjoyed. As always I welcome prompts from my readers. Just drop one in the box below.<p>

Won't you, pretty please?


	5. Backwards

Once Upon a Labyfic...

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Backwards<p>

It had taken much research to get to this point. Sarah had read up on myths and legends, traced back genealogies, including hers, into far distant times, delved into astrology, different zodiacs, even alchemy. She had found places where the veil between the worlds was thinnest. She researched what dates and times passage between different realms was supposedly possible.

It took a lot of trial and error as well as following her gut instincts but she finally found the right place, the right time and the right set of circumstances that would allow her to accomplish her goal.

During the Summer Solstice in 1994 Sarah Williams stood in a corn field in the geological center of the continent. She had a handful of white owl feathers in one hand, a tankard of homebrewed ale in the other. A large crystal hung on a chain around her neck.

The words to her incantation were absurdly simple.

"The way forward is sometimes the way back."

Sarah felt the magic gather around her.

She was moving forward finally after all this time. All she had to do was to go back to the location of the most pivotal moment of her life.

But was going to do it on her own therms. There would be no wishing away of anyone or anything this time.

Sarah was going to return to the Labyrinth under her own power.

She had a crown to claim.

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><p>Been a while since I updates. I have a few more to post in the next week or so, but I always welcome prompts from my readers.<p>

Please leave a contribution in the little box below before you go, won't you dearie?


	6. Roles

Once Upon a Labyfic...

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Roles<p>

It was exhausting to be the hero. She was always haring off to rescue her family and oddball friends at the most unexpected, inopportune times.

The adventures she undertook were exhilarating true, but she was getting sick of everyone relying on her too much. Living up to their expectations was trying and difficult.

Well she had finally had enough. She was through being the hero. It was time to try her hand at being the villain.

Her first victim: her longtime nemesis, Jareth the Goblin King. It was far past time her received a piece of his own medicine.

Sarah idly wondered how much he would enjoy being chased by the Cleaners, have his head almost taken off by the Fierys, be groped by the "Helping" Hands or get dropped into the Bog of Eternal Stench.

Let Jareth be the hero for once, she no longer gave a damn.

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><p>I'll be posting one of my first reader prompts in a few days! Got any prompts for me? Drop me a review below.<p>

Remember, reviews make the plot bunnies happy and happy plot bunnies do what they do best: reproduce!


	7. Dress

Once Upon a Labyfic...

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Dress<p>

The man walking down the sidewalk normally would have attracted attention based on his looks alone. He was quite used to his mere presence attracting attention from the opposite sex in any setting.

The attention he was drawing today was not the kind he normally appreciated. Perhaps it was the odd markings around his eyes or his explosive mane of blonde hair (he was without a glamour on today). Perhaps it was the way he naturally strutted down the boulevard. Perhaps it was the tune he was humming quite loudly.

Most likely though...

"Mommy, why is that man wearing a dress?" a young child asked his scandalized and slightly horrified mother.

"Don't look at him honey," the woman admonished her curious offspring, "it's not polite to stare," her tone of voice clearly stating "he's not right in the head".

Jareth scowled. The mother quickly hurried her child away.

Or perhaps it was because he was wearing a bloody dress while having to walk down the main thoroughfare of the town right in broad daylight.

He never should have agreed to the dare given him by Toby.

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><p>"Yeah, well I dare you and Sarah to wear each others' clotting for an entire day," Toby challenged.<p>

"And why mayhap would I ever agree to do such a thing?" Jareth queried. Sarah nodded in agreement.

"Other than the chance to see Sarah in your clothing?" Toby shot back, "if you don't I'm telling Mom how that mysterious stain got on her favorite tablecloth."

Sarah blanched. Jareth meanwhile was salivating at the picture in his head of Sarah in his clothing. The way his pants would showcase her lovely behind, not to mention how well she would fill out his favorite shirt...

He didn't even think about the consequences before he agreed.

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><p>So now here he was, wearing one of Sarah's favorite dresses, a cornflower blue, sleeveless, slinky affair that shimmered in the sunlight. The dress fell to just above his knees and swished in an eye catching way with every step he took. To add insult to injury he was wearing matching high heels (magically refitted to his feet, there was no way he was going to wear any footwear that would pinch his toes) and was carrying a pearl-blue clutch with a silver metal clasp to complete the ensemble. And to top it all off he had to go run all of Sarah's errands that day Above.<p>

He was getting sniggered at by teenagers, attracting lewd looks and catcalls from people of questionable hygiene of both genders and had been called a "fag" on more than one occasion. One idiot with more brawn than brains had tried pushing Jareth around but he very publicly dealt with _that _nuisance by the simple expedient of throwing the oaf into a nearby wall.

Jareth was _much_ stronger than he looked.

The only saving grace was that neither Sarah or any of his subjects were around to see his humiliation.

As the Goblin King passed by a large window on his way to the drug store he paused to look at his reflection. Jareth had to admit, his did manage to pull off wearing this dress rather well. It perfectly molded to chest, showing off his flat stomach and narrow waist and the swishy skirt and high heels brought attention to his rather shapely legs, not to mention how well the outfit brought out the color of his eyes. Even in this undignified getup he managed to look stunning. The Goblin King always looked his best no matter what he was or was not wearing.

Too caught up in his preening Jareth failed to notice the series of clicks coming from around the corner. A familiar towheaded blonde boy was holding a camera to capture this moment in infamy.

"Hoggle will never believe that I got Jareth to do this," Toby snickered and took another picture.

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><p>Finally all of Sarah errands had been completed, he couldn't wait to return Below and finally get to see he Beloved in his skin-tight pants, knee-high boots and best of all, one of his billowy shirts. The moment he was finished he magically changed out of the dress (he was going to keep a hold of it only because he wanted to see <em>Sarah <em>wearing it for him) and into his normal clothing.

When he saw her dancing around and singing with his goblins in the Throne Room, he immediately captured the image in a crystal to last for all time. A moment later Sarah noticed Jareth. She squeaked loudly and hastily grabbed the edges of his shirt to hold them together.

The Goblin King couldn't be anymore delighted by the outcome of Toby's dare. Sarah wasn't wearing a bra under his shirt!

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><p>Vain, pervy Goblin King! There will be a squeal to this drabble from Sarah's perspective. This drabble was a two-for-one prompt fill. TheSongAllAlong13 and bandchildforever I hope you enjoyed!<p>

Got any prompts for me? Drop me a review below!

Remember, reviews make the plot bunnies happy and happy plot bunnies do what bunnies do best: reproduce!


	8. Night

Once Upon a Labyfic...

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Night<p>

Day and night. Sol and Luna. The first has always been associated with the male aspect, the latter with the female.

Look at them the pair seemed to embody day and night and the dynamic relationship between them. They always seemed to be circling one another, complimentary opposites.

The Goblin King seemed to embody the sun with his yellow mane, golden tanned skin and brilliant blue eyes. The Champion with her black-brown hair, milky white complexion and mysterious dark green eyes looked like the night personified. But look s can be deceiving.

The Goblin King, broody, elusive and aloof in manner was much more a creature of the night. The Champion, friendly, adventuresome and vivacious clearly was a child of sunshine.

Except for a short time during dawn and dusk, day and night cannot exist in the same place at the same time. If this dynamic between day and night had applied to the King and Champion, theirs would be an impossible relationship. And to an extent this sentiment was true.

Luckily for them they lived in a land of impossibilities where nothing is what it seems, especially them.

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><p>Short, reflective piece. I'm gonna run out of ideas soon, would somebody pretty please give me a prompt or two? Just leave it in that little box below :)<p> 


	9. Gardening

Once Upon a Labyfic...

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Gardening<p>

Hoggle was bored.

Sarah was out picking her dog up from the vet, leaving Hoggle with Sarah's normally energetic younger brother. It was rather quiet so far, Toby was busy playing on his brand new N64 that he had gotten for his birthday last week.

Hoggle was used to a quiet lifestyle (except when Sarah called or the Goblin King dropped by to terrorize him...). But that wasn't to say that he lazed about, oh no. Being the Gatekeeper and a gardener was a full time job that kept him on his toes, especially his duties keeping the fairy populations in check. For all of his quite lifestyle rarely had any downtime and when he did, Hoggle got bored easily. Usually visiting Sarah and Toby was a lot of fun, especially when they all went outdoors to play or when Sarah told one of her stories. Hoggle liked being outside, he was a down-to-earth kinda person, and he adored Sarah's storytelling.

Being coped up watching Toby play video games was not fun for Hoggle and he was bored. The dwarf had been since Sarah had left and Toby had turned his video game on. He was starting to think some very un-Hoggle-like thoughts.

"Aw man!" Toby moaned as the words "Game Over" flashed on the screen.

"I'm bored!" the eight year old loudly exclaimed.

Toby was now bored, Hoggle had been bored for quite some time. Idle hands and whatnot.

Hoggle spied the geode Ludo had given the boy for his birthday sitting on Toby's bookshelf. He looked at Toby who was gazing longingly outside. It was raining. Toby looked in the direction that Hoggle was looking at. A dangerous idea blossomed in Toby's mind.

"Want to go see if there's any buried treasure outside?" Toby suggested.

Hoggle ignored the alarm bells his normally sensible and self-preservationist mind were setting off.

"Sure, why not," he shrugged.

"Awesome!" Toby excitedly exclaimed.

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><p>Sarah sighed as she opened the car door for Merlin to hop out. She dearly loved her dog, but he was getting old and had to be observed overnight at the animal hospital because of a bad urinary infection.<p>

She walked into the house calling, "boys, I got pizza!" She set the cardboard box down on the kitchen counter.

Normally that would have prompted a mad dash into the kitchen. But there was nothing but silence. Worried, Sarah walked throughout the entire house calling for Toby and Hoggle.

Sarah had left Hoggle to watch over Toby while she had gone to pick up Merlin (Toby hated the vet even more than the dog did). Hoggle may be a bit of a coward but he usually had his priorities straight. In this case, keeping her troublesome younger brother out of mischief. After the fiasco with Sir Diddymus last time, Sarah reckoned that Hoggle would be a good choice to watch Toby for an hour or so.

Finally Sarah figured out that neither one was in the house, Sarah went out to the backyard. The sight that met her made her jaw drop.

There was mud everywhere. Tools from the shed were scattered all over the yard, holes had been dug everywhere, and worst of all, Karen's prized flowerbed was totally wrecked.

"Toby! Hoggle, what have you been letting him get up to?!" Sarah yelled, surprising both boy and dwarf causing them to drop their shovel and hoe into the mud, "I expected you to keep Toby out of trouble Hoggle!"

"We're digging for buried treasure!" Toby proudly announced, "we haven't found anything yet, you want to join us?"

Sarah glared at them both. Toby was unaffected being the precious child that he was (Sarah firmly blamed the Goblin King for that) but Hoggle flinched and started inching back.

"Toby, go inside, take off your shoes and get into the shower this instant," Sarah ordered, "and don't track mud into the house or I'll leave you to face your mother's wrath alone!"

Toby gulped and scurried off to the house (the Wrath of Karen sometimes was the only thing Sarah could threaten to make her brother behave).

Sarah turned to Hoggle and sighed, "Hoggle, I really expected better from you."

Hoggle winced. He was terrified of Jareth (and rightly so in his opinion) but there was nothing more he hated than disappointing Sarah, his first and best friend.

"Why on earth would you encourage Toby to do something like this?" Sarah asked.

"Wes was bored," Hoggle mumbled," and after what happened with Diddymus, I figured it would be better to burn some of the boy's excess energy off outside."

"Well congratulations, you managed to make an even bigger mess than Sir Diddymus did," Sarah scolded, "I just hope you can clean up most of this before Karen comes back. If she sees her flowerbed like this," Sarah gestured to mudpit filled with broken flower stems, "she'll freak."

Hoggle shuffled his feet and looked down at the ground like a guilty little boy.

"Think you can do that for me?" Sarah softly asked, feeling like Hoggle had been punished enough. God knows he got tormented by the Goblin King enough , Sarah felt bad even for having to scold him about this debacle.

Hoggle nodded miserably, "sure thing Sarah."

"Thanks Hoggle," Sarah said before heading in to check up on Toby. She had to make sure he was actually following through on her orders and not playing video games again.

Needless to say, feeling bad about scolding him or not, Sarah never let Hoggle babysit Toby again.

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><p>Part two of the Babysitting Toby series. Hope you all enjoyed.<p>

Got any prompts for me? Just drop them along with any other comments you have in the little box below.

Remember, reviews make the plot bunnies happy and happy plot bunnies do what bunnies do best: reproduce!


	10. Existence

Once Upon a Labyfic...

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Existence<p>

It was just another normal day. No goblin rebellions, no Runners or wish-aways, no explosions even. There was no indication at all about what was about to happen.

The Goblin King was walking down one of the many identical stone corridors in the Labyrinth when the attack came out of nowhere. The invasion felt like being caught in a tornado full of jagged glass. He was being apart from within as his ties to the Labyrinth and its denizens were being ruthlessly torn away. Jareth could feel himself fading as the ties to his existence were rapidly being severed.

There was no defense against this kind of attack, the Goblin King never knew such a thing was possible.

Unable to fight back, Jareth did the only thing he could. He fled, drawing himself along the single connection that hadn't been destroyed yet. The only reason why it hadn't been discovered is because he had blocked his side of this connection years ago. And now the last person he ever wanted to see again was his only hope.

The Goblin King almost failed to materialize at her feet, he was so weak and destabilized.

"Sarah," he gasped.

The long-haired brunette whirled around in panic and disbelief.

"Go away!" the woman shrieked, "haven't you done enough! You're not real!"

At her denial, Jareth's form wavered and flickered in and out. He begged, "please, you're the only one keeping me in existence, please don't deny my existence."

"Your Labyrinth almost got me locked up in the Loony bin," Sarah moaned backing away, "I lost all of my friends and was shut out of my family because of you! Why should I do anything for you?"

"Please Sarah," Jareth pleaded, "don't let me die."

His simple plea got to her in a way any other words would have not. Despite all the trouble and heartache he had put her through, she couldn't let him die.

"Damn you," she muttered miserably, "and damn me too."

Sarah hoped she wasn't making a huge mistake as she held her hand out to him which Jareth grasped with a feverish, desperate speed.

His body had been flickering and quickly fading away but the moment his hand grasped hers Jareth was totally solid, fully there in a way he hadn't been since that stormy night fifteen years ago. The Goblin King felt his bond with Sarah condense, grow thick and heavy. Inwardly he shuddered, he was completely dependent on her now. The idea both repulsed and strangely excited him.

They locked eyes. Wary green and weary blue. The immediate danger had passed, what happened now?

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><p><em>The green-eyed Undoer is bewitching. <em>

He could see why the Goblin King failed to properly get rid of her. But bewitching or not, the mortal female and her new burden would have to be destroyed. He never left loose threads hanging.

A growl echoed in the darkness of the deserted castle, no matter which world he was in, the Nightmare King would not let that blasted prophecy come to pass. The Champion will never be his Undoing!

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><p>Oh yeah, heavy on the drama with nice helping of angst. I do write all kinds of drabbles. The story behind this one is a doozy but would require a long, novel length fic to do it full justice. Something to keep in mind if I decide to ever go down that rabbit hole.<p>

Speaking of rabbits...

Got a prompt for me? Just drop it into the little box along with any other comments you may have.

Remember, reviews make the plot bunnies happy and happy plot bunnies do what bunnies do best: reproduce!


	11. Pagent

Once Upon A Labyfic

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Pagent<p>

"Next up, Newty! See how he struts. Such magnificence, such grace. He truly is a king among goblins. The potato is a bit too knobby though."

The little goblin strutted his stuff along the catwalk made an impressive pirouette, eliciting oohs and aahs from the audience, and turned around to head back towards the stage. Right before he completed his turn the brown-orange goblin decked in his Majesty's best tripped and fell with a loud splat!

"Oh! That looks like it hurt! Judges, you score?"

Signs reading 11.5, 2.1, 3.14 and 5 were held up.

"Good score Newty! Next up we have Gibblets! He has a unique take for this event, deciding to have two potatoes instead of one!"

A tall, shapley goblin prowled onto the stage, two large round potatoes stuffed into his shirt.

"A different take on his Majesty. I wonder what Her Majesty will make of it?"

The judge turned around and saw the Goblin Queen doubled over in silent laughter.

"Her Majesty approves. Judges, you score?"

The signs read 19, 9, 3.14 and 9.99999999.

"I swear you will pay for this atrocity," Jareth growled into Sarah's ear.

The Second Annual Goblin King Beauty Pageant went on. The Goblin King still had not learned his lesson when it came to betting against his wife.

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><p>Yeah, it's been a year. I know. But hopefully there will be more soon.<p>

Reviews feed the plot bunnies.


	12. Juggling

Once Upon A Labyfic

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

Prompt: Juggling

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><p>Too think that after all this time Karen would have changed by now. But nope, despite the mended fences in their relationship and despite the fact that she had even started dating, Karen still often dumped babysitting duty on her step-daughter without a moment's notice, <em>despite<em> any plans Sarah might have made. And while Sarah absolutely adored Toby, once in a while she still resented having to babysit her little brother. Especially when she had had plans to go out on a date.

Normally she would have asked her Labyrithian friends to watch Toby while she went out to dinner, but after the fiasco with Sir Diddymus and the disaster with Hoggle Sarah knew that the only one who could control her trouble-making brother was herself. So here she was, date night canceled, frantically searching the cupboards for something to make for dinner. Examining the almost bare cupboards Sarah knew that Karen had forgotten to go grocery shopping again. With a growing sense of dread Sarah knew that she would have to make a trip to the store for mac n' cheese again (she didn't have enough money to order pizza).

Sarah groaned, she had little choice, someone had to watch Toby while she dashed out to the grocery store. Other people may have taken the child with them to the grocery store but after the food fight in the produce section between Toby and the Goblins, he had been banned from the store. There was no one left she trusted to keep Toby out of trouble… except one person… a certain someone who had plenty of experience with kids.

She was never going to live this down.

"I wish that the Goblin King would babysit Toby _in this house_ for the next thirty minutes while I go to the store for dinner."

"My, my Precious," Jareth purred from behind her, "now what was it that you said two weeks ago?"

He paused, pretending to think, "Oh yes, 'I'm never letting you within ten feet of Toby again.' And now, here you are _wishing_ for me to watch him."

"If I had any other choice I wouldn't let you," Sarah groused, "but I have to go get dinner, Karen left no food in the house."

"You continue to take my generosity for granted Precious," Jareth remarked, "one day I will not be so accommodating."

Sarah snorted at that, the Goblin King was so eager to please her that he literally had moved the stars for her (not that she had ever asked him to).

"Just keep him out of trouble for half an hour, please. No fighting lessons, no going outside and no using the phone unless there is a _REAL_ emergency," Sarah listed, "even for _you_ that shouldn't be hard."

"Precious, your sarcasm wounds me," Jareth poued.

"Just keep Toby out of trouble, please," Sarah requested as she walked to the front door," I'll be back in half an hour."

Hearing the car start Toby poked his head into the kitchen.

"Hey Jareth," Toby called, "what's up?"

"Your sister left me in charge while she went out," Jareth responded.

"Aww man," Toby muttered, "and I was hoping she would be able to play with me."

"She'll be back shortly," Jareth told the boy.

"Great," Toby muttered.

Less than a minute later the dreaded words were uttered.

"I'm bored, let's go outside and play pirates," Toby suggested.

"Your sister explicitly said 'no going outside'" Jareth recited.

Toby grumbled. Jareth, who also was bored, pulled out a crystal and started absent-mindedly playing with it. Toby's eyes lit up.

"Hey, could you teach me how to do that?" he innocently asked.

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><p>Sarah slammed the car door and rushed towards the front door. She had made it to the store and back in about twenty minutes. She had to break a few speed limit laws, but she had just cause. Leaving anyone to babysit Toby but Sarah was a disaster waiting to happen. Sarah hoped that the Goblin King, who was able to keep the goblins from destroying the castle on a daily basis, could handle one five year old boy.<p>

The entrance hall was clean as she walked in. So far so good. Then she heard Toby shout "awesome!" and hurried to the front room, hoping for the best, expecting the worst.

The moment she set foot in the front room, her feet were swept out from under her as she flew into the air. Sarah shrieked as she zoomed over the couch and almost crashed into the ceiling fan. She was only stopped when the Goblin King caught her foot as she zoomed by.

Sarah blinked up at him. Jareth was nonchalantly lounging against thin air, his feet hanging loosely above her father's reading chair. Sarah was now currently floating upside down near the fireplace.

"This is so cool!" Toby yelled as he literally bounced off the wall, rattling the pictures. The blond torpedo barely avoided crashing into her as he sped by again.

"What's going on?" Sarah barely restrained from shrieking. Then she got another look at the front room, "and why the hell is there glitter everywhere?!"

"It was the coolest thing Sis," Toby exclaimed before Jareth could even open his mouth," Jareth was showing me how to juggle his crystals when I accidently dropped one. There was a big flash and then we were floating! It's like being in outer space!"

Sarah eyebrow twitched. She glared up at the Goblin King.

"Fix this right now," she ordered.

"Afraid I can't," Jareth shrugged, enjoying watching the steam come out his Sarah's ears, "not for another twelve and a half hours anyway."

"And why not?" Sarah growled dangerously.

"Because the crystal your brother dropped was the wish of a recent Runner. This child wanted to be an astronaut (whatever that is)," Jareth explained.

"Did it occur it to you that it could _possibly_ to be dangerous to let a young child handle one of your crystals?" Sarah was almost yelling at this point.

"Didn't occur to me at the time," the Goblin King shrugged. He loved watching his Precious get riled up.

That was the last straw for Sarah. Jareth barely avoided Sarah's sudden kick at his head as she started yelling at him.

"Boyfriend or not, when I get my hands on you, you're dead Goblin King!" she screamed and lunged at him.

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><p>The next morning, and several memory spells on her parents later, gravity finally returned to normal. Sarah made Jareth and Toby clean up all the glitter in the front room (without the aid of magic). Needless to say, Sarah never let the Goblin King babysit Toby again.<p>

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><p>Part three in the Babysitting Toby series, one more to go.<p>

Good news, I looked in my fanfic journal and there are a few more drabbles in here that I need to type up and post. So for the next few weeks there will be updates to OUAL.

Reviews feed the plot bunnies.


	13. Soulsong

Once Upon A Labyfic

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Soulsong<p>

Oh how he envied her. Envied the freedom she had Above. The Goblin King commanded powerful magic to be sure, but he was trapped in his own kingdom, unable to go Above unless called upon to take the Wished Away.

The moment he set eyes on her he knew she was to be his, be it sooner or later. He tried to keep her during her Run but she had slipped between his fingers like sand or water. She had been drawn back to her existence Above like a moth to a flame. He may have failed to keep her at the end of her Run but in the end she would return. He had sung to her soul, offered her Valentine Evenings, Mornings of Gold and Love Between the Stars. And unknowingly, she had accepted before she shattered the Dream Dance.

She would have her freedom Above for the duration of her human lifetime and then when her time was up, she would return to the Underground, to his kingdom like he had done eons ago.

A part of him yearned, ached for Above. That is why he always goes when Called. The ache never truly went away but the Goblin King had come to terms with it. Above was for the living, the mortals, not for those like him who existed in the area between life, death, dreams, nightmares and potential.

The years went by, he watched her as she grew up, pursued her career, had a family and grew old with her husband. He did not begrudge her those years, her family would only have her for a fleeting mortal lifetime; he would have her forever. She had chosen him over Heaven, Hell or whatever else there was after death.

To someone who forever was not long at all, her time Above seemed to last an eternity. So it was with both relief and sadness he watched Sarah take her last breath. After all those years of watching her he was glad that she had gotten away the first time. Her mortal lifetime had both settled and enriched her in ways he never could have done for her. She was far more wise and complex than the child he had been merely infatuated with.

The Goblin King loved her and was happy to finally have her by his side. But he was sad that he had forever separated her from what she had cherished Above.

"Don't be," Sarah's voice rang out suddenly. She had not been in his room a moment before, "I knew what I was choosing when I accepted your offer."

"Sarah," her name escaped his lips spoken both as a prayer and a plea at the same time as he whirled around.

"Souls only sing truth," Sarah explained, "and I desperately wanted what you sang to me. Back then I wasn't ready for it, for you."

He watched her like a starving man as she came up to him and suddenly embraced him, "now I am."

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><p>Another of the drabbles written in my story journal from over a year ago. Hope you enjoyed.<p>

Reviews feed the plot bunnies.


	14. Worry

Once Upon A Labyfic

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Worry<p>

A total of two whopping days had passed since she became Jareth's Anchor. Even though he had tried to explain it three times, she really didn't understand it. Something to do with his existence being unraveled and her being the last link tethering him to life left.

She had almost let him die because of the trauma that her adventure in the Labyrinth had caused her. Despite what she had gone through, the counselling sessions, the long stretches of sleepless nights, startling at every tiny noise, the hallucinations, being ostracized by everyone at school, Karen kicking her out of the house on her 17th birthday, almost being institutionalized, she had managed to retain the core of what she was. And the entity that was known as Sarah Ann Williams could never let any creature suffer if she could help it in any way.

So now, here she was shackled to the Goblin King in ways that she did not fully understand. She had just turned eighteen two months ago, had just found a stable job and a place that was not by the railroad tracks and did not leak when it rained. Now she had another mouth to feed and barely even enough money to keep herself from starving. She did not know who she was going to survive with having the Goblin King dependent on her for everything now.

It was a good thing that he had appeared on Friday afternoon after she had just gotten off from work. It seemed with him being cut off from the Labyrinth and his goblins he had not only lost his magical powers but now he had to stay close to his only Anchor lest he grow weak and sink into a comatose state without her presence nearby. He literally had to keep her within eyesight.

Sarah was at a loss. She had to go back to work tomorrow morning and she knew that her manager would not allow the Goblin King to hover at her side all day while she worked. She could not afford to lose her job and her manager knew it. He was not a petty tyrant but he expected 110% out of all his employees and the slightest infraction could cause one his workers to lose their job. She was living on ramen and peanut butter sandwiches.

Then there was the question of just what had caused the attack on Goblin King in the first place. Something that could wipe out the existence of the most powerful being she knew of was not something to be trifled with. What happened if whatever or whomever had attacked the Goblin King realized that they had not finished him off? Compared to the one mighty Goblin King, she was just a bug. So easily squished.

But all her worries for the near future were shattered in the next moment. A voice she never thought to ever hear again came from the most unlikely of places, her bathroom mirror.

"Sarah, we need you."

"Hoggle!" Sarah gasped.

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><p>Well I got enough requests for this so here you go, the next part in the story that started with Existance. I've also had some requests to continue the stories from Dreams and Dreamers. I intend to work on those as well. Stay tuned for more on Louhi and the Future Imperfect stories. Eventually they will come!<p>

Reviews make the plot bunnies happy.


	15. Artichoke

Once Upon A Labyfic

By WhiteInfinity21

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.

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><p>Prompt: Artichoke<p>

"No! Not the artichoke!" wailed the goblins in unison as Sarah reached for the piece of produce to put in the pot of boiling water.

"I thought you didn't like vegetables?" Sarah asked the small hoard of goblins that had adopted her.

"Artichoke is a vegetable?" one asked.

"It looked like bomb-plant that lives in the Bog!" another exclaimed.

"Makes great big boom when it hits water," a third explained, "lots of fun except for smell."

"Well this is not a bomb plant but one of the few vegetables that Toby will actually eat," Sarah told the goblins, "it doesn't explode when you put it in water."

She put the artichoke in the water and nothing happened, "see, everything is perfectly fi-"

Ka-BOOM!

Sarah coughed and wiped the soot off her face.

"Ok, which one of you wise guys switched my artichoke for this bomb pant?!" She demanded to the laughing goblins failing to see the snickering barn owl sitting on a branch outside her kitchen window behind her.

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><p>Well TheRealEatsShootsAndLeaves it took a while but I eventually got around to filling your prompt. Hope you enjoyed. If anyone else has any one-word prompts for me tell me in your review.<p>

Reviews feed the plot bunnies!


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